Gatlinburg fire

3 Aug, 2017

Would Gatlinburg fire records be released if not for citizen, media pressure?

By |2017-08-07T12:38:44-05:00August 3, 2017|Categories: Public Records|Tags: |0 Comments

After eight months of delay, officials with the city of Gatlinburg and Sevier County say they will release public records related to the November 2016 fire that killed 14 people. (Read story in Knoxville News Sentinel) It's worth contemplating whether they would be doing this if not for the continued pressure of citizens and the state's news media. Many of the Gatlinburg fire records requested are basic: Incident reports, E-911 call recordings and emergency radio traffic.  Citizens still question why an evacuation wasn't ordered, or at least wasn't ordered until the fire was already burning down structures. And so far, the answers from officials just haven't seemed enough. Citizens deserve [...]

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30 Jun, 2017

7-month quest for Gatlinburg fire records reflects poorly on state transparency

By |2018-08-06T08:50:37-05:00June 30, 2017|Categories: investigative exemption, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , |4 Comments

The November 2016 Gatlinburg fire killed 14 people and cost millions of dollars in damages. It was one of Tennessee’s worst disasters. A central question remains: Why did state and local officials wait so long to order an evacuation, until after the fire had already swept into residential areas? Some who lived through last-minute escapes have told news reporters that they had called 911 and were instructed it was safe to stay put. The answer to the evacuation question, and many others, could lay in the communication records and other post-fire reports held by state and local officials. But almost as soon as news organizations and citizens started requesting to [...]

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27 Jun, 2017

Knoxville News Sentinel: Judge lifts blackout on Gatlinburg fire records

By |2017-06-29T10:46:47-05:00June 27, 2017|Categories: Public Records|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

After months of unfulfilled public records requests to state and local government agencies for Gatlinburg fire records, the Knoxville News Sentinel learned that a judge issued an order three weeks ago saying nothing in the case before him precluded the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency from releasing public records about the fire. "This court did not intend to direct or address the actions of any other entities or parties not specifically involved in these cases. ... TEMA has not been ordered to provide nor precluded from providing any information pertaining to its duties under the Public Records Act." The Tennessee Attorney General's office, which petitioned the judge for guidance, received the [...]

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3 Feb, 2017

DA’s shutdown of public records on Gatlinburg fire goes too far

By |2018-08-06T08:51:44-05:00February 3, 2017|Categories: investigative exemption, Public Records|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment

On Dec. 15, the district attorney for Sevier County issued a remarkable letter. In the most horrific disaster to ever afflict Gatlinburg, a firestorm on Nov. 28 swept into the city, killed 14 people, caused 191 injuries, and amid harrowing escapes to safety, damaged or destroyed 2,400 structures. Insurance claims have neared $1 billion. A woman looks over the rubble of her home in Gatlinburg on Dec. 3 (Source: Knoxville News Sentinel) But how government responded to the emergency — or in fact anything related to the Gatlinburg fire and the aftermath — is, in Sevier County District Attorney Jimmy Dunn’s opinion, part of a criminal investigation into [...]

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